Beginner's Guide
Raptor:
Ballhead (Raptor's 1st variant of the different model)
Unlocked by completing every Story mission with every character
Switch:
Workbot Frame (Switch's 1st variant of the different model)
Unlocked by completing Switch story mission "The Mayfly" without losing a stock.
Candyman:
Strait jacket
Clear Arcade with Candyman.
Strait jacket Alert:
Requires Straight Jacket to be unlocked AND purchased first.
Using Restarts may prevent unlocking.
Clear Orange 1: Tests of Story Mode without being scored upon.
Sonata:
Zoot Suit (Sonata 1st variant of the different model)
Unlocked after completing the Grid/Sonata mission "Getting Up".
Latch:
L.2 Full Mecha
Clear Green 1: The Offer of Story Mode with unknown specifics.
Note: It is not clearing without losing a stock.
L.2 Full Mecha B:
Clear Arcade with Latch without using continues.
Dice:
Domino The Cursed (Dice 1st variant of the different model) Unlocked by going to Dice in a character select screen for any standard mode and cycling through the skins you have unlocked for him very fast. Just mash your mouse or button on controller and he will be unlocked.
Doombox:
Safety Weapon (Doombox 1st variant of the different model) Unlocked after completing the story mode for the first time and defeating Safety Weapon Doombox.
Secret Nitro Techniques:
Grappling Hook:
When you use Nitro's special, if you hold down the swing button, Nitro will pull himself to the ball instead of pulling the ball to himself.
Bunt out of special:
During Nitro's special, when he reaches the ball, you can press bunt and it will bunt the ball instead of hitting it.
Beginner's Guide:
This game is a high speed ball game that is sort of like dodgeball but is 2.5 dimensions. The ball can go up to a speed of one million, however, it is pretty hard to get to in regular matches. Also, there are many different game modes and characters to choose form which allows players to find their own playstyle.
What is New from the Previous Title?
This new installment in the franchise brings a new flair to the game as it introduces several new characters, new stages, amazing new music tracks, a story mode, improved AI, a new artstyle, new mechanics, and the long awaited servers for multiplayer (albeit, they aren't the best). Also instead of being just one hit kills, you now have a lifebar that will go down based on how fast the ball is going. This was implemented in order for players not instantaneously die the first few seconds of the match. Another thing is that you can now hit the ball straight down and there is a mini yellow goal that sometimes appears during the match at the top of the map. This is like a powerup that is activated by getting the ball into it and has several different abilities (invisible ball, instant fast ball, ball telekenisis, etc...) that will last for a while.
Lets Go a Bit More in Depth:
I have only been (currently as of the review) playing for three hours but I have a (at least) basic understanding of what the game has changed. For starters, there are three new characters: Grid, Nitro, and Jet. Of course, each has their own unique abilities and now everyone has a double jump. Furthermore, there are a ton of new outfits and alternate costumes to choose from for every character. (Although there are some secret outfits which I have not figured out how to get.) Each character starts with four outfits already unlocked but in order to get new ones, you have to spend in game currency (I do not know its actual name) which you only get from playing the game (no microtransactions). There is also a story mode which is fairly decent and provides a lot of lore which (mostly) explains the Leathal League universe. Also, you unlock some alternate outfits from completing it and you get some achievements.
The New Characters
Grid:
Although he is quite a slow character, his main ability is to teleport in the direction you
are holding and launch the ball from there.
Jet:
My personal favorite, Jet is a fast character who mainly uses her kicks to hit the ball. Her main ability is to put the ball in a bubble that cannot be hit (although the ball can be grabbed out of it) which after a few seconds, will pop and the ball will go flying at a high speed. She also has a jetpack that will allow her to hover in the air for a little.
Nitro:
Nitro is an average character who mainly uses a gigantic handcuff. It acts like a grappling hook as it throws the ball away from the character, grapples it back in, and then throws it again (sort of like a trick throw). He is a overall good character.
Some New Mechanics:
This is a very good thing to know/learn about as it could give you the edge in battle. One of the new mechanics is that you can now grab the ball and manually throw it (with default keyboard - Z). Even is the ball is going at a slow speed, the throw will momentarily launch the ball (either left, right, or down) very fast. Furthermore, parries are now back from the first game. When you smash the ball, if everyone keeps trying to hit it immediately afterwards, use the parry to stun them, giving you a free hit/kill. In order to do a parry, one must hit the ball, then press (keyboard) X, which upon doing correctly, will have a blue ring around the ball and the opponent will be stunned. Doing a parry will deplete your energy but if successful, you will gain full energy. ALSO, if you see a player doing a parry (the blue ring around the ball), you are able to grab the ball from them which will do major damage. One new thing that I just found is that if you happen to fall onto the floor (laying down), if you press the hit button (keyboard C), and the ball is coming to you, it will allow you to have the ball float in front of you for a few seconds which you could use to hit the ball. During that time, no other player can hit the ball.
Other Things:
With the in game currency, you are able to buy music tracks, new stages, the new characters, several new gamemodes/returning gamemodes (such as: Lethal Volley and Strikers). There is also a leveling system for online matches which will give you additional currency for every level-up. Although I am not quite sure (since I am only level four at this time), I think you may unlock new things from leveling-up just like the first game (like new balls?). There are also ranked matches now and leaderboards.
Big Head Mode:
In character select, select Sonata, Candyman, Switch, Raptor, Random, Random, Random. This enables Big Head Mode for offline games. You can then select any character you want. Repeating the sequence multiple times increases the effect.
Small Head Mode:
In character select, select Random, Random, Random, Raptor, Switch, Candyman, Sonata. This enables Small Head Mode for offline games. You can then select any character you want. Repeating the sequence multiple times increases the effect.
Speed Scaling:
Wondering why you can't get to a million in training as fast as you could in the original Lethal League? This is why. This guide will briefly explain about a new system that affects the speed the ball gains from smashes.
Introduction:
There's a new mechanic in the game that affects how fast the ball is allowed to gain speed, preventing a single player from being able to send the ball to extreme speeds on his own. This mechanic doesn't seem to have a name, so for now I'l giving it the tenative name Speed Scaling. This short guide will explain briefly on what Speed Scaling is, and how it forces players to not spam smashes all the time.
How Speed Scaling Works:
Each time a player uses a smash or a charged hit on the ball, the ball's speed normally doubles. However, Speed Scaling is in place to prevent that from happening constantly via a modifier on the ball's speed gain.
After the first smash, Speed Scaling will reduce the modifier of the ball's speed gain by 25% each time the ball is smashed by the same player. For example, if the ball was smashed once and is at a speed of 16, Speed Scaling will cause the next smash to inctease the ball's speed to 28, instead of 32.
This modifier is reduced by 25% each time this happens, and is multiplicative. So on the third smash, the modifier goes from 75% to 56%, then 42% on the 4th smash, 31% on the 5th, 23%, 17%, 13%, and finally, 10%, at which point speed scaling will stop. In a normal game, it's highly unlikely that speed scaling will ever cause the speed gain modifier to hit 10% (as you'd need to have smashed the ball 9 times before another player takes it), but it is possible. You can observe these effects youself by going into Training and spamming smashes on the ball over and over again.
Can You Reset Speed Scaling?:
Yes, you can. It's possible to reset Speed Scaling in 2 ways:
1) Use a downward aerial swing.
Hitting the ball with a Dair will reset the modifier to 100%, allowing you to double the ball's speed with a smash again. Keep in mind that you'll have to use them every so often if you want to be increasing the speed a lot. This is the only way that you can reset speed scaling, so you'll want to get familiar with that attack if you want to be doubling the ball's speed often.
2) Lose control of the ball.
If another player takes the ball from you, or if a new Burst starts, Speed Scaling will also reset to 100%.
Beginner's Guide...